


"it's christmas eve, todd!"

by wheretheoceanmeetsthesky



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Fluff, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 02:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17092706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheretheoceanmeetsthesky/pseuds/wheretheoceanmeetsthesky
Summary: It's Christmas Eve, and Neil has a surprise for Todd.





	"it's christmas eve, todd!"

“Neil, its seriously freezing, I really don’t understand why we’re doing this.”

Todd sat a couple of metres outside of the cave, huddled up, and leaning against a tree. It was 11pm, snowing, and for some reason Neil has dragged him out of their warm (or at least warmer, the heater had always been a bit shit) room, all the way out to the Dead Poet’s cave.

With absolutely no explanation.

And then made him wait outside.

The only answer Neil would give him was, “It’s Christmas Eve, Todd!” Which really didn’t help with Todd’s questions.

As for why it was just the two of them, it was Christmas break, and all of the Dead Poets had gone home to their families for break. That is, except for Todd and Neil.

Todd’s brother, Jeffrey, wasn’t coming home from college for Christmas break, so his parents didn’t see much point in Todd coming home either. Hence staying Christmas break at Hellton. Neil’s parents, on the other hand, were both working over the break, and therefore decided the drive was too far to come get their son from boarding school. Cause if they weren’t even going to be able to celebrate Christmas that year, there wasn’t really much point in Neil coming home. Terrific parenting, Todd thought.

So, for the past week, it had just been the two of them, spending their time talking, making up dumb games to pass the time, riding into town, sneaking into the kitchens to steal food, and hanging out at the cave. The latter of which was occurring in this moment.

Neil was still inside the cave for some reason, which again, lacked any form of explanation. So, Todd just stood, shivering outside against a goddamn tree, until finally, he heard some rustling, and saw the taller boy stumble out the cave, an enormous grin on his face. Neil’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, and his dark hair and coat were dusted with snowflakes. The freezing weather outside had made his cheeks pink, and Todd couldn’t help but stare, a fond smile on his face. Neil rushed over to him, grabbing his arms and pulling him out from his huddled position and over towards the cave.

“Come look! Wait, close your eyes first.”

“Neil, how am I supposed to get into the cave with my eyes closed?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll guide you.”

So Todd hesitantly shut his eyes, and let Neil grab his hands, relying on his friend to stop him from smashing his head into the entrance of the cave. As they made it into the cave, (incredibly carefully), Neil directed the smaller boy into the corner of the cave, instructing him to sit down.

“I would really appreciate it if you could just explain what’s going on.”

“Alright, Todd, you can open your eyes now.”

Todd’s eyes fluttered open, and in front of him was a little Christmas tree, about half a metre tall, decorated with tiny fairy lights, and a slightly scrappy golden star on top, that looks to him like it was handmade. The cave was lit up by candles, which Todd had no idea where Neil found, and it gave the area a soft, warm glow. Todd glanced to his left to find Neil staring at him, with the softest smile Todd had ever seen on his face.

“I know we aren’t allowed Christmas decorations in our rooms, so I thought that maybe we could have our own little Christmas Eve celebration out here. Also, I have something for you.”

Neil nervously handed Todd a small package, shoddily wrapped in brown paper, and with a bow made of white twine wrapped around it.

“It’s only little, so don’t have too high expectations.”

Looking down at the gift in his hand, Todd didn’t know what to say. He was worried that if he let himself speak, he would either start crying, or say something far too deep in his soul for him to admit out loud.

“Open it.”

Neil nudged him softly, and Todd’s arm burned at the contact, even if it was through multiple layers of fabric. Todd eyes flicked over to Neil’s, and the look in his eyes was enough to make Todd’s heart skip a beat. He quickly glanced away, slowly beginning to rip away the paper covering the small gift, his hands shaking as he held it. Inside was a small hard cover journal, a bit bigger than Todd’s hand, backed with deep brown leather. He opened the first page, and scrawled inside was a message that read:

 

_For the endless stream_  
_of gold that_  
_falls from your mind._  
_\- Neil_

_P.S. That was a lot more_  
_poetic in my head_

 

Todd stared at the writing, running his hand gently across the page, still speechless. Though it was small, no one had ever given Todd a gift that had meant so much to him.

 “Todd, can you please say something? Is it –Is it too much?”

 Shocked out of his train of thought, Todd looked up, and for the first time ever, he saw a glimpse of fear on Neil’s face. He suddenly realised that he had been quiet for a long time, and his silence, though not out of character, was probably absolute torture for Neil.

 “Oh! No, of course not. It’s – It’s perfect.”

 Todd looked into Neil’s eyes, and this time did not break away from the look of sheer happiness that he saw in the other boy’s face, and instead, he mirrored it.

 Tearing his eyes away from Neil’s, he looked back at the Christmas tree that was still sitting in the middle of the cave, and smiled softly. No one had ever put so much thought into something for Todd before, and it made his heart feel, well not to sound cheesy or anything, but it made his heart feel as if it were full.

 Suddenly, Todd drew in a short breath as he felt Neil lean into his side, resting his head on Todd’s shoulder. His heart raced at the closeness, and he held his breath, as he slowly lowered his own head to rest on Neil’s. Sitting there a moment, Todd felt a burst of bravery, and before he could let himself chicken out, he slowly inched his hand towards Neil’s until their pinkies were touching. He waited a second to see if Neil would pull away, and when he didn’t, Todd inched his hand a little closer until they were overlapping. When again the other boy didn’t pull away, Todd took a small breath, and grabbed Neil’s hand, holding it in his own.

 Basking in the warmth of the candlelit cave, and of each other, both boys felt like they were home.

 

**Author's Note:**

> so I was originally intending to base this of the prompt, “I’ll give you five dollars if you make a fire.”, but then this went in a much different direction than I was expecting. this was my first dps fic, so I hope you enjoyed! any feedback/comments are very much welcomed!


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